1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor cleaning apparatus to clean a floor of a large area, for example, a lobby or passageway of a building or apartment house, or underground passageway.
2. Description of the Related Art
A floor of a large area, for example, a lobby or passageway of a building or apartment house or underground passageway, is generally cleaned by a cleaning service staff in the following procedures. First, a weakly acid, neutral or alkaline cleaner is applied by a mop to the floor to be cleaned. Then, the floor, to which the cleaner has been applied, is cleaned by a rotary polisher. After the cleaning by the polisher, tap water is sprayed on the floor through a hose connected to a tap, thereby washing the dirty water and the cleaner after the cleaning. Then, the water on the floor is vacuumed by a wet vacuum (vacuum suction machine), and thereafter the water remaining on the floor is wiped by a mop. Thus, the cleaning of the floor is completed.
However, in the case where the floor is cleaned by a rotary polisher, the polisher brush and the floor material are inevitably worn. Since the polisher brush is made of synthetic resin fiber, industrial waste, such as fiber cuttings generated by the wear of the fiber, is discharged to sewerage together with the dirty water and the cleaner. In addition, since the flooring is made of vinyl-based material, wear of the flooring generates material cuttings. Thus, each time the floor is cleaned, a great amount of industrial waste is discharged to sewerage together with the dirty water and the cleaner, resulting in environmental pollution.
Under those circumstances, the applicant filed an application for patent of a floor cleaning machine as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-357793. The floor cleaning machine comprises a cart-type cleaner main body, which can move on the floor, and the main body has a high-pressure steam spray, which sprays high-pressure steam on the floor directly to clean the floor. The water on the floor sprayed from the high-pressure steam spray is collected together with a contaminant. Further, the water and the contaminant are sucked by a suction pump mounted on the floor cleaning machine, and the sucked water is stored in a water reservoir tank mounted on the floor cleaning machine.
In the floor cleaning machine described above, the high-pressure steam (50° C.-80° C.) is introduced in a nozzle box, and directly sprayed on the floor through a number of steam spray nozzles. When the high-pressure steam is directly sprayed on the floor, the contaminant adhering to the floor is removed from the floor and caused to float. In this state, the user moves the floor cleaning machine forward while pushing a handle, so that the contaminant is collected by a water suction device together with the water on the floor, sucked and collected in the water reservoir tank.